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Pakistan: Karachi airport training centre attacked

A security guard stands alert outside a training center for airport security personnel after an attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 10, 2014. Gunmen in Pakistan attacked a training facility near the Karachi airport on Tuesday, a spokesman said. The facility is roughly one kilometer (half mile) from the Karachi international airport. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

KARACHI, Pakistan - Gunmen in Pakistan attacked a training facility near the Karachi airport on Tuesday, a spokesman said.

Pakistani television stations showed images of security guards rushing to the scene and frantically taking up positions behind buildings or earthen berms around the facility, which serves as a training centre for airport security personnel. The facility is roughly one kilometre (half mile) from the Karachi international airport.

The attack began as at least two groups of gunmen tried to enter the facility from two different entrances, said Ghulam Abbas Memon, a spokesman for the Airport Security Force. The security forces were fighting them back, he said. Memon did not know how many attackers were involved or whether there were any casualties.

Details were sketchy and no one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack.

The firefight came on the heels of a brazen siege by the Taliban who on Sunday night stormed Karachi's Jinnah International Airport in an attack that killed 36 people, including the 10 Taliban gunmen. At least 11 members of the Airport Security Force were killed during that attack.

The Civil Aviation Authority, which is responsible for running the country's airports, said in its Twitter feed that all flights at the Karachi international airport have been suspended because the academy for the ASF was under attack.

The organization called on people to be calm and patient.

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